Who left the tap on? Teacher in hot water for pool bill

One more example of how the combination of deep ignorance with initiative is so dangerous, since apparently he took the decision to waste water on his own it is only fair that he gets also the bill by himself.

Because of all the fearmongering, and Panic sheering Nonsense about Covid, spread by the media, all the self nominated experts and Internet trolls, people got really strange ideas how to stop the corona virus infections.

Around $27k. The guy sure know how to waste water when other countries are suffering drought. He has to work and repay that amount no matter what.

Further proof that not all teachers are created equal. Being able to pass a licensing test, and giving the right answers in an interview, does not mean that there is any common sense inside their heads!

I'll bet he was the gym teacher!

I really hope this guy wasn't a science teacher! Also, the report says other teachers noticed the water running and turned it off, you'd think that somebody would have mentioned it in a teachers meeting or something!

Teacher who doesn't know how to Google.

What a drip.

The Japanese office where I work removed all the drinking water dispensers due to covid fears, despite lack of evidence they spread the virus. So I need to bring my own bottled water to work. just more weight and hassle. The attitude in Japan is that as long as you inconvenience the public, you are seen to be taking action against the pandemic.

The attitude in Japan is that as long as you inconvenience the public, you are seen to be taking action against the pandemic.

Exactly. Everyone scrambling to "care the most". Thanks for the endless fear campaign, you know who...

For heavens sake, it's just water!! it was NOT intentional and it was a mistake but for a good cause as the teacher thought.

Japan has plenty of waters and I am sure NO BODY is going to have any shortage of it because of this accident.

you'd think that somebody would have mentioned it in a teachers meeting or something!

That would be confrontational and is avoided in Japanese culture.

It costs more to fill the swimming pool than some parents earn in a month? WTF?

Gotta get into 水商売！

For heavens sake, it's just water!! it was NOT intentional and it was a mistake but for a good cause as the teacher thought.

It was intentional and it wasn't a mistake.

It wasted money and treated water.

This "genius" is teaching children. Fantastic.

Well that's all his savings down the drain then.

And he's a teacher?? A teacher who didn't think to Google his theory before acting on it? Yeah, Japanese schools need to vet their teachers more carefully lest they send this education quality to the pits.

For heavens sake, it's just water!! it was NOT intentional and it was a mistake but for a good cause as the teacher thought.

Geez, can I send you my water bill? That's our tax money literally going down the drain!

Japan has plenty of waters and I am sure NO BODY is going to have any shortage of it because of this accident.

Only said by someone who doesnt actually know about Japan. Not everywhere has "water" all the time.

Oh it's not an "accident" when he goes and turns it back on. That was doing something willfully.

I wonder that if others had given the ok as well as in Japanese articles, his bosses are under pressure to pay as well. Or if he put the whole idea upon his own self and acted upon it silently.

I am a senior member of a school and decisions are usually made in communication, and even if others make them, there will be others who know about it. The amount of meetings and people communicating various things that they have seen and heard is frankly, overwhelming.

And the guy had all these people see the running tap, try to amend the problem, but he would turn it back on.

Classic

Japanese schools losing their pools due to rising maintenance costs and aging facilities

This country doesn’t understand what pool maintenance is? It might help if they did.

MontyToday  07:12 am JST

Because of all the fearmongering, and Panic sheering Nonsense about Covid, spread by the media, all the self nominated experts and Internet trolls, people got really strange ideas how to stop the corona virus infections.

You're actually trying to blame Corona and the media for this? How about some personal accountability. The guy is just plain dumb.

@yreth, do you know how large a pool can be? 300,000 per fill seems like a bargain.

I’m amazed at how they close & pools right on the official dates of summer, it’s stilll stinking hot and it’s closed! We had a pool back home and you don’t let it go green full of algea and god knows what else in the water, then drain it, scrub the walls, paint the walls every year!! You up keep it and jump in when it gets warm again and have a bbq. Yeah we’re leaving after our time is up here.

While it seems obvious that the teacher should have to flip the bill himself, you can't deny it was a group effort. It was good some teachers turned the tap off, but did they voice their concerns at a meeting the next morning when they found it back on again? Nope, they let it happen. So, the teacher should definitely have to pay a certain percent, but so should the supervisors, and the local BOE.

People do unnecessary things thinking it will prevent infections without researching what works and what doesn't.

Japan has plenty of waters and I am sure NO BODY is going to have any shortage of it because of this accident.

oh dear another with NFI. water that comes to you by city tap water is chlorinated then it has to be pumped to your home using large electric motors, this cost money and energy, fresh clean drinking water is very limited on planet earth. Even I have a well\bore which I know while the ground water is free, I still have to pay electricity to pump it to my house, so its not really free, but at least im not wasting more expensive city water to flush my toilets, wash my clothes and having baths

Between this fool and the laundromat joker with his name and company name on it while stealing underwear………where do they find these morons?

Also, the report says other teachers noticed the water running and turned it off, you'd think that somebody would have mentioned it in a teachers meeting or something!

Particularly a person with higher authority such as a principal or vice-principal should have been walking around and bring it to teachers' attentions.

I know schools here value kids cleaning up their own school and it is a good thing. However an on-campus custodian wouldn't have let this happen.

This happened several years ago too. I actually thought I was reading an old headline. I'll try and dig it up. Think it happened in Chiba. Anyone else remember?

Soooo, you and other commenters here, have never done something stupid that made no sense?

I've done stupid things in my life but most of them have been spur of the moment events. This person did this over a period of 2-3 months, so he/she had ample time to realise what they were doing was so stupid. This is a teacher we're talking about here! Would you feel comfortable if someone like this was teaching your kids? And also, there is a problem with the administration if the pool's tap was allowed to be left turned on for such a long period of time. I understand that someone turned it off, but that that didn't last long.

Japanese school has been hit with a 3.5 million yen water bill

This may be for the total water usage by the school

Local authorities in Yokosuka are now demanding the teacher and two supervisors pay half of the 3.5 million yen bill.

estimated 4,000 tons of excess water

1 ton of water = 1,000 liters.

So 4,000,000 liters of water cost about 1,750,000 Yen

2.3 liter per 1 Yen

Ultimately though, the person acted on the information and experience that they had at the moment (s) they had thought it the best action to help protect the children, which is his/her job after all. For that, I say, well done teach. So, no different to any of , then.

Good grief, what a take!

Adding fresh water to something that may be contaminated is not so dumb since he/she probably thought it would dilute the water of any contaminant.

are onsens filtered or chlorinated!?

city drinking water including pools use chlorine to kill the bacteria and pumps filters to clean the contaminants? doesn't anybody with half a brain think chlorinating and filtering would cost 3.5 million yen over those months!? not to mention the waste of water. even my local pool has a well which they use to fill the pool but they still chlorinate and filter.

We’re told that it went on for three and a half months, nearly two water billing cycles. Yet nothing was done about it AFTER the first bill, by which time it should have been clear that something was amiss. I’m trying hard also to understand why those who turned off the tap never twigged to what was going on, let alone drew it to the attention of the school authorities.

The guy must be interminably stupid then. 

I didn't say he/she was stupid. What they did was stupid though.

It's not as inane an action as people are suggesting. Japanese people often see water running constantly; think of the onsen or sento where the water flows all day and night.

I don't think the running water from the Onsen and Sento constantly comes straight out of the city's water supply like that. So, if you were 'kind of thinking straight' you wouldn't feel the pool water was the same as that of an onsen. Does this teacher ever pay the water bill at home to realize that water costs money?

Adding fresh water to something that may be contaminated is not so dumb since he/she probably thought it would dilute the water of any contaminant.

It is dumb in this situation. Diluting 'contaminated' water from the pool like this actually dilutes the chlorine which is used to fight bacteria in the water, which would add to the monetary cost of this debacle and put the children at a higher risk of being exposed to different kinds of bacteria. Is this not stupid???